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Arthur sat in the transport making a mental inventory of what remained of his posessions. The USSA had apparently burnt most of his writings and his books, his valuables were missing--he wouldn't be surprised to see Wychin some day, wearing his gold watch--but his clothing and his weapons were all there.
Of course, he had gotten out with his life. That alone would have been enough. Everything else was extra.
He was surprised to find some of papers at the bottom of his bag. He reached in, pulled them out, and examined them. The title, printed at the top of each page, was X-Com: The alien war ... the author was Sarah Parker. The pages were from one of the books his mother had written before her writings were banned by the USSA and she had died of 'natural causes'. Unlike Arthur's mom, the USSA wasn't interested in keeping history alive. They wanted it to die, along with the aliens. The USSA was to be the eternal empire--no knowledge of anything before and no way for it to fall.
The pages had obviously been torn out of the book when it was confiscated. Arthur had no idea how it had happened (why tear pages out of a book you're about to burn?) but he was glad something had been left him of his parents, even if it only was pages 427 through 442 and 498 to 520 of one of his mom's books.
Arthur skimmed through the first page. This part of the book was about the end of the Coldforce's original resistance. More specifically, it was about Krotyla, the only alien to ever serve on the USSA, the assassination of General Jackson by Krotyla, and about Krotyla's death.
He had nothing to do, so he decided to read it. It had a number of pages devoted to quotes from people who had been there, and official reports. After he had read it, he sat and pondered. Something clicked in his mind.
Krotyla was not a traitor!
Arthur didn't know why he knew; he just did. There was something about the official reports that didn't add up.
"...Krotyla appeared at the hidden Cold Force base during a heavy blizzard, immediately before a massive attack including Sectopods and Mutons wearing the brand new white powersuits...it [Krotyla] did its best to help fend off the attackers, even controlling some mutons psionically...Many of the Coldforce members suspected that Krotyla had, in fact, led the attack on the base...."
A combat leader that helps fight its own troops?
"...It was a standoff. The Ethereals had the ability to reach out and control the mind of any Cold Force soldier they wished, but the Cold Force was unable to pass the shield barrier. If the Cold Force tried to move around, the Ethereals could control the men taking point and repel the attack. If the Ethereals attempted to take over a man, the Cold Force could launch an attack while the Ethereals were trying to enslave the mind...There was no way, ultimitely, for the Cold Force to win the battle with their already decimated numbers...Krotyla, however, took the risk of darting around the shield. The Ethereals immediately tried to mind control it. They also took the mind of the next man to charge...Before its mind was taken, Krotyla was able to bite the head of one of the Ethereals off. It had willingly dropped its gun before making the charge...Krotyla then proceded to pick up its gun, and, under the Ethereal influence, began to shoot other Cold Force members until the last Ethereal was killed ... Krotyla was found guilty of being a traitor, but was to be given the honor of a 'hero's death'..."
A traitor that leads an attack that won the battle? Accused of being a traitor because it was psionically controlled!
"...It soon became evident, however, that General Jackson would not be able to see the fruits of the Cold Force's labor. His armored car drove into the grounds of the conquered alien base, with heavy guard...a shot rang out from the second story window of the apartment complex behind, and General Jackson fell to the ground...A full legion of Snakemen then proceeded to attack, but were sucessfully fended off. The battle would most certainly not have been won in our favor, however, if Krotyla had not made the fatal mistake of walking into the middle of the Snakeman troops where Captain Wychin promptly detonated the pack of C4 explosive which he had strapped onto the sectoid before the battle."
Is that the hero's death which was mentioned earlier? A 'kamikaze' attack on the enemy?
Suddenly, everything fit perfectly. Why kill General Jackson? General Jackson was the only man who could keep Wychin from absolute power. Why kill Krotyla? Krotyla was the perfect scapegoat.
Wychin had taken the lives of Arthur's mother, of Krotyla, of Mike Thornside, of uncountable humans who had been associated with aliens, not to mention the aliens themselves who had put down their guns ... and, had he had his way, of Arthur himself. There was only one solution...
Wychin had to pay.
Written on July 16th by Josh Day AKA Squaddie Arthur Parker